From the online comments
Actor opens up about mental hospital horror
How sad! This is supposed to be a mental rehabilitation hospital where sick patients enter to heal themselves. No government has ever tried to solve the problems within the gates of this forsaken place. Mental health is still taboo within this country and nobody will tell me otherwise. Until an honest and dedicated person undertakes to truthfully direct this facility in a humane and respectful manner with sufficient and proper resources, the situation will continue to deteriorate further to the loss of good people (patients) who have unfortunately found themselves in this position. Once these people heal, they may make a difference in their and others’ lives. People need love and compassion when they are broken, they need mending not more kicks to break them further. – Jonathan Micallef
Wishing you all the best for 2022 Tony. You made many people happy with your work and the least we can do is support you in your time of need. May this article reach the health minister’s ear and improve these super important services. You only realise how dire the situation is once a well-known gentleman like Tony recounts his horrific experience. Many others may have been ignored by newspapers and the public. – Joe Muscat
It should be obvious that in this case the threat of suicide had already existed prior to this person’s transfer from Mater Dei Hospital to Mount Carmel Hospital and that it probably was the main reason for the transfer. Deplorable as the physical structure is at present, doubts should not be raised about the standard of care being given by medical staff. – Francis Saliba
“Deplorable as the physical structure is at present, doubts should not be raised about the standard of care being given by medical staff.” Why not? “Care” is not visits with the psychiatrists and administration of medication by nurses only. Tony Busuttil asked some very important questions which have to be answered. – M. Vella
“What I don’t understand is how we manage to find all the money we need to build roads, blocks of apartments and commercial centres but we have not yet found the money to refurbish this facility?” And yet we give millions to Vitals/Stewart for nothing, support corruption, give thousands to friends and friends of friends! – M. Avellino
Away from the state of Mount Carmel, it pains me so much that I am crying, right now, to see what Toni tal-Vann (I call him this affectionately) has had to encounter in his life. Toni is well-known for his Mini Bugz children’s programme but when I say ‘children’, I must here include adults such as myself who used to watch it. I wish Toni the best in the world and here’s hoping that 2022 will prove to be a turning-point for him. – Anton Atanasio
Abela considers co-option to fill vacant seat on Third District
It is the other way round. Unelected members are to be in Cabinet and not in Parliament. We brag about following the Westminster model to the extent that the Speaker protects ministers for not giving MPs’ questions and the public proper, correct and relevant answers. No wonder they are so evasive to journalists – they are brought up that way. And when it comes to vacancies in parliament, we hold an atrophied casual election that does not reflect the times or bring in MPs through the back-door by co-option. – V. Zammit
If I would be the female candidate to be co-opted to parliament instead of going through the casual election process, I would be ashamed of myself as I would be taking a parliamentary seat which the people, who then I would be representing, did not want me to have. – Joe Camilleri
Co-option is intended to be the method of the last resort when electing members to the house. Casual elections should be first carried out to select from the candidates who contested the same division in the last general election. And candidates should not be forced not contest to make way for newbies who did not submit themselves to the people’s choice. This is the democratic way forward. Any other use of co-option is equivalent to corruption of the democratic process of electing representatives. – M. Calleja